The first Beijing-Macau flight from Beijing Capital Airlines landed at Macau International Airport (MIA) on Tuesday, marking the beginning of flights bringing passengers to Macau from Beijing and then to the Lisbon terminal.

Beijing Capital Airlines held an inauguration ceremony at MIA to launch its new routes, Beijing-Macau-Lisbon and Lisbon-Beijing-Macau.

According to Macau Daily Times, an additional four flights per week will fly the Beijing- Macau route every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and are now available to all passengers. Considering the new route and all the others, there is now a total of 25 flights every week from Macau to Beijing.

The Beijing-Lisbon route, which is also operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, will start its journey today with the first Lisbon flight departing from Beijing.

The Beijing-Lisbon route will be operated thrice per week, on every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The flight from Macau to Beijing takes approximately three and a half hours, while it takes approximately 13 hours to fly from Beijing to Lisbon.

Flights between Beijing and Macau are operated by the Airbus A319/A320, and flights between Beijing and Lisbon are operated by the Airbus A330, giving travelers a journey on a “new Airbus A330-200 twin-aisle, wide-body aircraft that can accommodate 475 passengers”.

On the sidelines of the inauguration, Simon Chan, president of the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau, said that Macau’s aviation departments are working continuously to expand the city’s aviation network.

“However, due to the characteristics of the market, maybe it is not realistic for Macau to open many direct long-distance flights in a short time,” explained Chan.

Chan then commented on the Beijing-Lisbon route, saying that “it is the first flight between an Asian city and Lisbon.” Chan claimed that the route will be extremely convenient for transportation between China and other countries, adding that the route helps Macau serve as the platform between China and the Portuguese- speaking countries.

The flight from Macau to Beijing departs from MIA at 4.40 p.m., and arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport at 8.05 p.m.

The flight from Beijing to Lisbon departs from Beijing at 1.10 a.m., and arrives at the Lisbon airport at 7.30 a.m., Lisbon time, on the same day.

The flight from Lisbon to Beijing departs from the Lisbon airport at 10.15 a.m., and arrives in Beijing on the next day at 5.55 a.m., Beijing time.

The flight from Beijing to Macau departs from Beijing at 7.50 a.m. and arrives in Macau at 11.20 a.m.

At the ceremony, Beijing Capital Airlines officials declined to speak to media about the sales for the aforementioned routes.